To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
If parents and children have different family names, or if siblings have different family names, will this not undermine the sense of family unity? Is there not a risk of the sound upbringing of children being hindered?
The introduction of a selective surname system for married couples, in which they can choose whether to use the same surname or different ones, would have a significant impact on the nature of family and society. Careful debate is needed.
The appropriateness of the selective surname system is likely to be a focal point at the current Diet session.
The major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which is positive about the introduction, intends to submit a related bill. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has begun discussions at its working group.
The Civil Code requires married couples to use the same surname. Although a couple may choose either surname, it is common for the wife to change to her husband’s at the time of their marriage. Of couples who submitted their marriage registrations in 2023, 95% chose the husband’s surname.
With the expansion of women’s participation in society, the government has put in place a system that allows women to unofficially use their maiden names after marriage so that they do not feel inconvenienced at their workplaces or elsewhere. Currently, maiden names can be included with family register names on driver’s licenses, passports, real estate or corporate registrations and other certificates.
However, there are still banks that do not allow the opening of accounts under maiden names. Some have also pointed out that they feel burdened when asked overseas to explain why their maiden names are included on their passports. It is hoped that the government will identify present issues to be discussed at the Diet.
An important point of discussion when a married couple chooses to have different surnames is which one their children will have. In 1996, the Legislative Council proposed an amendment to the Civil Code, stipulating that the surname of any children shall be determined at the time of the couple’s marriage. In that case, all children would share the same surname.
On the other hand, the draft amendment to the Civil Code submitted in 2022 by the opposition parties, including the CDPJ, stipulates that, after each child is born, the parents will consult with each other to decide the surname.
The opposition parties’ proposal to allow siblings to have different surnames is intended to fulfill the wishes of married couples who want to pass on both surnames to the next generation. However, how will the children feel when they have different surnames, even though they are part of the same family?
The opposition’s proposal also states that, if a couple cannot agree on the surname of their child, it would be decided by a family court hearing. How can the family court decide the surname of a child if the parents cannot?
The opposition parties claim that diverse values should be recognized, but it is the parents that are seeking a diverse family image, and the children have no room to choose.
The selective surname system is not just an issue for those who will get married.
Both the proposals made by the Legislative Council and the opposition parties state that married couples can also revert to using their maiden names within a certain period of time after the revised law comes into effect. All married couples will be forced to choose whether to have the same family name or different ones.
